Welcome to The Week in Direct-to-Consumer, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights that sums up the latest news in the DTC space.
Beautycounter launches first fragrance collection
Beautycounter — a DTC beauty brand best known for its clean skincare and cosmetics products — just launched its first fragrance collection, Retail Dive’s Howard Ruben reports. Like the brand’s skincare and cosmetics products, the collection, dubbed Clean Eau De Parfume, was created with a focus on clean ingredients and transparency. Formulation of the collection began “with a review of each ingredient across 23 health and environmental endpoints,” Ruben writes, adding that “as part of the brand’s transparent philosophy, all ingredients are listed out.” The collection’s five new perfumes are available online, in stores and through Beautycounter’s independent sellers.
See also: Beautycounter joins a growing number of DTC beauty and fashion brands expanding product categories. In January, Stella McCartney entered the skincare supplement category, as we noted in an earlier installment of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.
Knix names Gabrielle Union brand ambassador
DTC underwear brand Knix just announced actress Gabrielle Union as its newest brand ambassador. The partnership debuts with the new “Knix for Life” campaign, which “showcases the brand’s mission to provide products for every age and every stage of life all while breaking down barriers and taboos,” per the announcement.
See also: Knix previously launched “The Invisible Period” campaign, which highlighted misconceptions about perimenopause, as we noted in the November 10, 2023 edition of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.
Ritual leverages data in its brick-and-mortar success
In an interview with Chain Store Age’s Dan Berthiaume, Ritual Director of Analytics Brett Trani discusses how the digital-native DTC health and wellness brand is leveraging data for brick-and-mortar success. Trani tells Berthiaume that initial data-system struggles were a barrier when Ritual rolled out in Target and Whole Foods, as pulling sales data was largely a manual process. The company has since partnered with software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors, saving about 10 hours per week in manual labor and integrating data into its “larger data ecosystem,” Trani says, adding that these insights help to optimize inventory and more. Read the full interview here.
See also: POS Nation recently acquired GrazeCart, adding to its existing SaaS offering in order to help small farmers maximize DTC sales and work toward a more seamless omnichannel strategy, as we noted in the March 1, 2024 edition of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.
Retail Brew explores Skims’ first-ever national TV spot
Kim Kardashian’s DTC shapewear brand Skims recently aired its first-ever national TV spot, continuing “its trajectory as one of the more successful celebrity-led brands in recent memory,” Retail Brew’s Jasmine Sheena reports. The 60-second ad, “Skims Lab,” shows Kardashian portraying various clones testing Skims products in a laboratory. In addition to its national TV broadcast, the campaign will run online with digital out-of-home.
See also: In November, Skims was named the official underwear partner of the NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball, as we noted in an earlier installment of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.
Further reading
DTC acquisitions:
DTC collaborations:
- “Dickies and Guy Mariano release collaboration” (Fashion Dive)
DTC trends:
- “What’s Behind DTC’s Sudden Obsession With Indie Fashion” (Business of Fashion)
DTC product expansion:
- “Yitty expands into swimwear with debut Shaping Swim collection” (Fashion United)
DTC strategy:
- “Grove Collaborative refreshes core brand Grove Co.” (Retail Dive)
- “Disney to integrate ESPN DTC service into Disney+” (SportsPro Media)
- “Levi’s D2C Captures 48% of Revenue Amid Improvements to eCommerce Experience” (PYMNTS)
DTC retail expansion:
- “DTC rug brand Ernesta opens first showroom” (Home Accents Today)
